Amaryllis: The Tragic Fairytale
by ALF
Summary: In an age of uncertainty, a forbidden romance blooms despite all the odds on crushing it. The thorough story of the romance of Inuyasha's parents and the crumbling of a longstanding youkai empire harboring many dark secrets...
1. Fall's Bloom

Amaryllis: The Tragic Fairytale

Chapter 1: Fall's Bloom

Disclaimer: Based off of the manga _Inuyasha_ by Rumiko Takahashi, and all affiliates. I, myself, have no affiliation with the manga/anime and the like. I make no profit from writing and displaying this.

* * *

To prepare himself for an intense battle in which he would not already know the outcome, the Inu-no-Taisho would stand upon the tallest peak of his territories. It was there that he would spend many hours looking out into the horizon with the wind blowing in his face, and remind himself of why he loved these lands so much, why he continuously risked his life for them. He would also mull over battle tactics and war strategy so as to march into the fight fully prepared. Such mental preparation was necessary for life-and-death battles.

To prepare for a battle in which he knew would be tough but not life threatening, he'd spar with Sesshoumaru. The inu taiyoukai prince usually came with the Inu-no-Taisho to these particular fights, making these preceding spars important. To spar fluidly together in practice always resulted in a perfect and deadly force on the battlefield.

To prepare for a battle in which the Inu-no-Taisho KNEW he would win hands-down, he'd take a relaxing soak in a hotspring to loosen his muscles before these "exercises", mulling over the best way to kill the being or beings foolish enough to challeng him.

Such was the case on this early, autumn evening. The sun began to sink behind the trees, bleeding an orangey-pink color across the sky. The taiyoukai sat against the water's edge, his arms propped up on either side of him. He sighed, bored, as he leaned his head back against a rock. Hair normally bound on top of his head now hung around his body like a curtain of silvery-white silk, moist strands of it clinging to the hard, corded muscle of his shoulders, chest, and back. He stared off into the distance, at nothing in particular, his mind lost to his thoughts and the soothing hot water.

He knew nothing of the band of youkai that had challenged him, not even of what species they were. The challenge had come in a simple, hastily scrawled note, challenging the Inu-no-Taisho for his lands.

He did not worry, for it was quite typical for youkai that chose to be anonymous before battle to also be the weakest of his so-called "challengers". Wiser youkai were more aware of the Inu-no-Taisho's power, thus did not waste any precious time or energy trying to come across as mysteriously intimidating. Idiot youkai like these, however, thinking that they could actually put the Lord of the Western Lands at unease with secret identities, would usually enter the fight with a laid-back mindset, over-confident in their strength. The fools.

They usually paid with their lives in a quick, bloody scuffle. This so-called challenge, like most other challenges the Inu-no-Taisho had received lately, would be anything but. To him, this would be a light exercise.

Thus, he engaged his thoughts on how he should spend the rest of the evening _after _the battle.

He would have to travel quite a ways northeast, because these latest jokers wanted to fight in their home territory. Traveling there and back would take up the most time, but he should be back for an evening meal. Heck, maybe he could even bring back some of his kill to prepare as part of the meal.

He would fight them in his true form, but not in his true size. He usually reserved his mountain-size appearance for those rare opponents that could match those measurements--it was a lot harder to kill even weakling youkai when they were small enough to zip around his feet. For this particular group, going into battle as an average-sized large dog would be sufficient enough. He did not expect these latest challengers to be powerful enough to fight in humanoid form.

After the scuffle and the meal, he would wind down by either taking an evening trot along the borders of his lands in the same planned form and size, or revert back to his humanoid form to find some random, willing youkai female to share his bed with for the night. Maybe he would do both, though in which order he still had to decide.

_Then I shall spend the remainder of the night bored out of my mind, waiting for the next day to come, only to repeat all of today's events over again._

The Inu-no-Taisho sighed once more, standing up from the water. Though he never regretted his power, his status, or his life's longevity, he hated the drawback of being bored all the time. There were only so many things that could amuse a taiyoukai such as him, and the fact that he was approaching one thousand years of life on this earth did not make his monotonous lifestyle any more exciting.

He climbed out of the hotspring. Still dripping wet, beads of water rolling off his skin, he stretched, clasping his hands together and raising them high above his head. As he did this, his entire body began to pulsate with light, until he was enveloped in a blinding white glow. Appearing to be nothing more than a tall mass of energy, his figure morphed, the white image shifting closer to the ground. The energy dimmed and faded away, leaving behind what appeared to be an ordinary dog with shining, silvery-white fur, and pointed ears.

Yes, pointed ears. Most humans that managed to survive a sighting of a large inu taiyoukai often mistook the Inu-no-Taisho for Sesshoumaru, or his mother, who both had floppy ears.

Finally, the Inu-no-Taisho dried himself off, beads of water flying as he shook his whole body from head to tail. So much easier than using a towel.

Licking his chops, he trotted off, heading into the Eastern forests. He weaved through the trees, their browning leaves floating down gently around him. Autumn had arrived. The presence of the blood-red higanbana flowers, as he brushed past them, confirmed this. He thought nothing of their ties to death as he moved through them, for he, as well as most other youkai his age or older, had come to terms with death a long time ago.

_This will be an easy fight,_ the Inu-no-Taisho decided. _I'll definitely be finished and ready to eat before complete nightfall._

* * *

The last of the sun's rays had long since surrendered the sky to the purplish-black of night. A cool evening breeze pushed through Edo's forests, the trees restless for morning. 

Only a 5-minute walk from a small village existed a meadow, concealed by the surrounding forest. The deep red of the higanbana overtook the usual browns and greens of this meadow, the flowers gently bumping and swaying into each other with the breeze.

A girl knelt among the flowers, very long dark hair shifting with the rhythm of the breeze. The bulk of many kimonos concealed her figure, save for her slender neck, sweet face framed with the dark silk of her hair, and small, slender hands. She knelt very still, her head bowed and palms pressed together in prayer.

Every year since her mother died, during the week of the higanbana's bloom, she would sneak out at night to pray among these flowers. They were her mother's favorite, and she too had grown to love them. Others vaguely admired their unique beauty from a distance, afraid of their mythical power to bring an early death to those that touched them. Izayoi had long since dismissed such tales, having touched the delicate petals many times in all her 16 years, without so much as a threat of danger. Though she knew that they were poisonous if ingested, she saw no harm in admiring these short-lived blooms in close proximity.

Like her, the higanbana flower was a rare and unique beauty, unsurpassable by any other flower, though also so very misunderstood. Since childhood, the villagers portrayed Izayoi as a strange child, unlike any proper hime. A tomboy, she preferred to climb trees and chase bugs rather than collect flowers and learn proper tea ceremony. She preferred the light-weight, practical hakama worn over a simple kimono, instead of the heavy, awkward multi-layered robes she was recently forced to wear. She dreamed of independence, of adventure, of anything that did not make her life as monotonous as it was now, instead of being a loyal wife and home-maker to any nobleman or daimyo that would have her.

Uniqueness, however, was the reason why Izayoi's mother loved both her and the higanbana. Both were so very different, so bold, so delicate and seemingly perfect. Many times, Izayoi wished that everyone else shared that view. Then perhaps she wouldn't clash with the other girls, alienate the boys, and displease the adults with her sometimes less than princess-like behavior.

Throughout the years after her mother's death, Izayoi believed that since the higanbana had such a strong tie to death, it must also bloom in the afterlife. Therefore, she never failed to pray among these flowers year after year, hoping that through them she could possibly see her mother one last time, even if just to say goodbye. Her mother had died one night while young Izayoi slept. Her illness had been merciless.

This night with the higanbana was no different than the many other nights Izayoi spent with them in the past. She had managed to come to this little clearing, against the wishes of both her father and her fiancé. In this age of war, they preferred to keep an eye on her at all times, to protect her against the corrupt soldier or the bloodthirsty youkai. To her, she felt as though she was trapped in a cage, unable to move or do anything on her own without anyone noticing.

Alone at last, after a day of acting like a proper princess to please both her father and her betrothed, after a full day of careful observation from anyone and everyone around her, Izayoi let out a little smile. She enjoyed the silence of the night, the cool breeze against her face, and the sweet smell of her favorite flower surrounding her.

"I'm back again, Mother," she whispered, her voice barely audible above the soft rustles of the surrounding trees. "It is Father's birthday, so the entire village celebrated. Everyone, including Takemaru-san--I believe I told you about him before, didn't I?--were drunk, which is why I managed to come here undetected. They're all fast asleep.

"I miss you, Mother. But then again, I tell you that every year, don't I."

The tone of Izayoi's smile turned bittersweet as she reached out to touch one of the delicate-looking flowers, her gaze distant with memories of her mother. She blinked, fighting back tears she always battled with in this time of year, whenever she thought about her mother, and how much she loved her. "I wish you were alive so that I could share my thoughts and feelings with you, like when I was a little girl. But, I suppose this...will have to do for now."

She took a long moment to sort her emotions before continuing. "My arranged marriage with Setsuna Takemaru is finally drawing near. He and Father haven't decided on a day yet, but probably sometime next year. I met him a few months ago for the first time in years. I haven't seen him since that day many years ago, as children, when his father took him to train in battle tactics and such. We finally met again a few months ago. Do you remember the two of us as young children, how we would pretend to sword-fight with sticks?" Izayoi's smile softened once more over the return of childhood memories. "I always played the youkai, and Takemaru-kun was always the victor.

"He's changed so much over the years. He's quite a handsome man now, I'll admit that, but that is all I can credit him with thus far." Izayoi sighed, and paused to find the words to describe her betrothed. "He is so self-absorbed with his life and with becoming a powerful daimyo; he barely even acknowledges me most days. And when he does, it is only to smother me with his insistence on protecting me from anything that so much as breathes. He constantly mentions that by marrying him, he'll gain more power and expand his territory, as though I am nothing more than a small power gain. He doesn't see me as a woman, or his future wife, or even as the childhood friend he used to know. Instead, I am...I am..."

Izayoi struggled with another wave of emotions, resting her hands on her lap and clenching them into fists. She fought desperately not to let the tears fall from her eyes, teeth clenched and body trembling, angry at herself for crying over her betrothal to her former childhood friend. "Look at me," she chided, her voice quavering. "Here I am, crying over being forced to marry a young, handsome man who is not a complete stranger to me, and who at least treats me with enough respect not to strike me or to treat me as nothing but a...a baby-maker. Meanwhile, there are men forced to go to war against their will, children becoming orphans, families living in poverty--all around me, every day. My situation isn't so bad at all compared to so many other people, yet here I am crying about it. How selfish I've become, Mother.

"It is my duty to marry whomever Father wishes, and he was kind enough to put my thoughts and feelings into consideration when choosing Takemaru. Our union will ensure the village's security and prosperity. Our people can live peacefully, generously, happily, with Takemaru as their leader. My marriage to him is for the good of the village; I cannot let everyone down. Therefore, I must go through with this, I must endure it, as is my duty as Hime. And as long as I think of the smiles on the villagers' faces as they talk about the upcoming wedding and the good it will do for their lives, as long as I keep that in mind, I can go through with this. As long as I remember the content, funny, kind Takemaru of so many years ago, and the hope that he can once again become the person I once knew, I can endure this..with a smile."

And so smile she did, though forced and with eyes brimmed with tears. She took a deep breath, wiping her eyes and struggling to calm down, to stop feeling sorry for herself over what she felt were utterly petty insecurities.

With a sigh, she flopped backwards onto her back, the thick, soft grass cushioning her fall. She stared up into the sky, red higanbana surrounding her, their color almost overwhelming the pinks and blues of her clothing, and the shining raven-black of her hair fanned out around her. She stared up past the swaying flowers, past the shadows of the treetops shifting in the breeze, to the night sky riddled with stars. She allowed her mind to wander, as it always did lately, to life outside of her village, to a life where she could be free to choose what she wanted in life, to a life that she could lead for herself.

It was then that a flash of white caught her eye. She turned her head in that direction, catching sight of a single white amaryllis flower, almost completely engulfed by its crimson red neighbors.

It was normal for an albino higanbana to appear every once in a while with the reds, a result of a genetic abnormality. Its pale color stood out from the deep red of the neighboring flowers, making it appear glaringly conspicuous, and so very different from the others. Izayoi never minded this; she thought the white higanbana as more beautiful than the red, because of its rarity and uniqueness.

She reached out, gingerly cupping the delicate bloom in her hand. "If only Takemaru was how he used to be," she whispered into the night. "If only I could marry someone that truly loved me, who could see me not as a power gain, but as an equal, a partner. If only I were born an ordinary girl, and not a daughter to a nobleman. If only--"

She fell silent, another movement catching her attention, though this time it was from a distance. Izayoi rose slowly to a sitting position, pushing thin strands of her hair back from her face. She caught a flash of white fur among the flowers, forming the shape of a tail, and the sound of a panting canine.

Suddenly alert with fear, Izayoi crouched down, hoping that the higanbana would conceal her. _A wolf! _she thought, her mind racing frantically for a way not to be spotted by the creature. She raised her head slowly, just enough to peak over the tops of the flowers, to try and spot the exact whereabouts of the wolf. It moved very slowly through the meadow, heading away from her.

Upon a longer look, Izayoi realized that this was not a wolf at all, but merely a dog. A dog that seemed to be moving with quite a limp. Feeling more relieved, Izayoi sat up fully, expecting the dog to take notice of her.

But it didn't as it practically dragged itself through the flowers, not so much as turning its head in her direction. She could see many cuts along the dog's body, blood flowing from every one of them. The dog looked worn, beaten, and exhausted. It wheezed through each breath, its whole body trembling as though supporting its own weight was a tremendous task. Izayoi guessed that the dog would have looked very well kept if it weren't for its wounds, and it did not look malnourished. This dog could not have been a stray.

_Who would do such a thing to the poor creature? _Izayoi thought, watching the dog struggle to move, every step looking excruciating. _What is wrong with people when they do nothing but torture a poor, defenseless animal! _She knew that the dog did not have much life left, for it was apparently too weak to even detect her presence. Her father being a dog owner himself, Izayoi knew that it was extremely difficult to sneak up on such an animal. For this dog to be completely unaware of its surroundings...

The dog took another shaky step, then another, before its legs finally gave out from under it. Its body disappeared within the higanbana, the sound of its descent to the ground barely audible.

Izayoi sprang to her feet, ignoring the weight and restriction of her many robes as she rushed as fast as she could in the dog's direction. She could not will herself to ignore any person or creature that she knew was dying, this dog no exception.

* * *

Dragons. They had been dragon youkai. The Inu-no-Taisho cursed himself for allowing his arrogance to cloud his judgment. _I am letting my age and experience get the best of me. I entered the battle like a foolish pup. _He managed to kill them all, of course, grateful that these dragon youkai were not powerful enough for him to have to completely sever the hearts of all 100 opponents in order to kill them. However, even a weak dragon youkai was not a force to be reckoned with, and a whole army of them certainly was a challenge. The Inu-no-Taisho won the fight, but he did not win unscathed. 

Normally, dragon youkai existed in solitude, rarely seen fighting together in groups—unless severely threatened, or provoked. The last time the Inu-no-Taisho had seen such a large number of bloodthirsty dragon youkai in one place was during the reign of his nemesis, Ryuukossei, when he ruled the Western lands as the Ryu-no-Taisho.

In his younger years, the Inu-no-Taisho had fought and killed Ryuukossei, regaining the title and lands that were rightfully his. Or, so he thought. Later, he had realized that Ryuukossei's supposed death was merely staged, because his heart had never been destroyed. Since this realization, the Inu-no-Taisho had ruled with his guard up, always expecting Ryuukossei to return to try to steal back his territories. Decades had passed, then centuries, with no sign of the powerful dragon-youkai daimyo. The inu taiyoukai lord had even begun to forget about the threat.

But this sudden incident with the dragon youkai could only mean one thing--Ryuukossei had finally returned. The challenge from the dragon youkai was probably a test, to let Ryuukossei know the strength of the enemy he would be up against. _He knew I would come to battle expecting something easy. He...he may even have been close enough to watch the fight!_

This disturbing thought stunned the Inu-no-Taisho, as he lay motionless on the ground, his blood beginning to pool around him. _Now here I am, lying someplace unfamiliar, bleeding to death._

He struggled to rise to his feet, desperate for his claws to find enough grip on the ground to move. However, he had lost too much blood already--all four legs felt like the heaviest of lead. The strain of unsuccessfully standing left him dizzy and nauseated. _If my body doesn't rebound from this soon, I will die here._

It was then that he finally noticed movement all around him. Squinting through the blurriness of his failing vision, he could just barely make out the unique, looping shape of higanbana petals swaying in the breeze. He then realized that he had fallen in a giant bed of these flowers.

If the Inu-no-Taisho were in his humanoid form, he would most certainly let out a choked, bitter chuckle, to express the sad irony of it all. _To think that I am about to die in a bed of the death flower. _He relaxed, no longer having the energy to even think about trying to move, as he quietly watched the higanbana dance around him. Despite his thick coat of fur, he felt chilled. The warmth of his blood seeping out from under him therefore felt almost soothing. Every wound on his body throbbed, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He struggled with his vision, his hearing seemed muffled, and all he could smell was the sweet, metallic scent of his own blood.

_Come on, body, don't fail me now,_ he told himself, the tone of voice in his head sounding as weary as the rest of him. _I MUST live, to defend my homelands...I cannot let Ryuukossei take them over this easily...I cannot let him destroy everything I've worked hard on restoring, everything that I've come to know and love..._

He struggled with sleep, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. He knew that if he'd succumb to his body's sudden urge to rest, waking up to see the next day would be even more uncertain than it was already. The desire to sleep was powerful, however, a mental feat almost as vigorous as his most recent physical one. But he _had _to stay awake, he _must_...

His eyes slowly shifted to another movement he could just barely detect, and all desire to sleep left him at that moment. The movement was that of a human, moving quickly towards him.

The Inu-no-Taisho bared his teeth and growled, unable to defend himself any other way. He felt a human hand touch the fur on his shoulder. Acting on instinct and adrenaline alone, he lashed out with his teeth, managing to move fast enough to feel the human's skin brush against his nose as the hand jerked back, but not enough to sink his teeth into the opponent's flesh.

"It's ok!" came an urgent whisper, sounding very much like a young woman.

Still snarling, his ears pressed flat against his head and the fur on his back raised, the Inu-no-Taisho struggled with a closer look at the source of the voice. He almost did a double-take, staring not at the figure of a foolish man intent on killing him, or of a recklessly curious boy intent on prodding him, but of a girl. He could barely make out the concern strained on her face and lavender eyes as tranquil as the night sky above them...

* * *

Izayoi bit her lip, studying the dog's body with an uneasy, nervous expression. Never had she felt so helpless. The dog's wounds, up close, looked a lot worse than when they did from a distance, and Izayoi felt certain that this dog would most certainly bleed to death. However, she knew very little of how to treat such wounds. The dog himself did not help; Izayoi could not get close enough to him to even touch him. Apparently, this animal saw her as a threat. 

_How do I let him know that I'm not here to hurt him? _Izayoi attempted to touch the dog's shoulder yet again, and was almost bitten a second time. The dog never took his eyes off her, the look in his gaze telling her that he had every means to hurt her if she gave him a reason to. _If he is even able to_, she thought ruefully.

Suddenly, she remembered a conversation she had with her father one day about dogs using their sense of smell to get to know other dogs and creatures. With great hesitation, Izayoi extended her arm out towards the dog's face, just enough that he could hopefully catch her scent, but not close enough for him to bite her. At least, she hoped her hand wasn't close enough.

As her hand approached, the dog growled, his eyes locked on her trembling fingers. He bared his teeth as much as his lips would allow, waiting for this human girl to dare touch him again. But she didn't, leaving her hand to instead hover a few inches from his face.

Izayoi could see the surprise and apprehension on the dog's face as he perked his ears towards her, his eyes wavering back and forth from her face to her hand. He took a tentative sniff, paused, sniffed some more, and then relaxed. Izayoi also relaxed as the dog's teeth disappeared behind his gums, the growling ceased, and the hairs on his back settled.

* * *

The Inu-no-Taisho considered it highly unusual that any human would not kill him, a youkai, on the spot. Humans usually considered any youkai a threat, and would not hesitate to attempt to kill even a taiyoukai, despite the meager odds of winning against such a creature. But this foolish girl, however, did no such thing. Instead, she had her arm extended, as though waiting for him to give her something. He eyeballed the bare, empty palm, wondering why this girl wasn't taking advantage of killing a taiyoukai daimyo. 

_What in hell does she want from me? Is she planning to trick me? Why would she not kill a being that will surely flatten her village and kill all of her people? Why is she not afraid of... _

The reason suddenly hit him; this was evident in the girl's concerned, nervous, and earnest gaze, and the way she acted around him. _Of course! This girl thinks I'm just an ordinary dog! Feh, she probably thinks some other human beat me and now, being a typical sentimental female, thinks she can have pity on me and save my life. I…I can use this to my advantage._

The Inutaisho was wise enough to know when to swallow his pride. In such a life-or-death situation as this, he knew it would be a better idea to play along with this human's assumptions, be taken under her care, and possibly live than to die a slow, pathetic death alone outside of his territory.

And so, struggling greatly with his dignity and pride, he did the one thing that, though humiliating, would save his life: he whimpered.

He tried his best to sound like a helpless pup. To increase the effect, he managed to lift his head ever so slightly, looking the girl straight in the eye with as much of a doe-eyed expression as his pride would allow him to give. He even managed a brief tail-wag, though the weakness of the motion was not an act.

The Inu-no-Taisho watched as the girl's expression relaxed, and though she did not speak, he could see "Aww, kawaii!" all over her face.

No longer apprehensive, the girl began to pet him, running her hand down the side of his body, and it took everything he had not to rip her arm out from her body right then and there. To allow a human to touch him, especially to pet him, was a sign of submission, and someone as powerful as the Lord of the Western Lands would _never_ submit to a mere human girl. _Unless, of course, I'm dying, and she happens to be my best chance to live. As long as…as long as no one's watching..._

Ah, the power of being petted. The Inu-no-Taisho had watched dogs allow humans to pet them many times, and had even had discussions with these dogs about why they allowed such a thing to happen, but could never understand what the allure of it was. Now, with this girl's hand running through his fur with such care, he understood. The sensation was surprisingly soothing, like how a mother dog would lick her pups in a loving fashion.

The Inu-no-Taisho flopped his head back down, his embarrassment and fear melting away with each stroke, but not the pain. And as the girl whispered to him about how everything would be ok and that she would take care of him, he thought briefly of his deceased mother, and all the contentment she gave him when he was a young pup.

Sleep tugged on the Inutaisho's consciousness once more, though he knew he no longer had the strength to fight it. As his vision blurred and darkened, he caught a glimpse of the cluster amaryllis flower waving in the breeze, as though to mock him.

_I've cheated you once again,_ he thought with weary smugness, the deep red and delicate shape of the flower burning in his mind. _Once again, you'll have to wait, and take my life another day..._


	2. Gaze of the Fated

Amaryllis: The Tragic Fairytale

Chapter Two: Gaze of the Fated

Disclaimer: Based off of the manga _Inuyasha_ by Rumiko Takahashi, and all affiliates. I, myself, have no affiliation with the manga/anime and the like. I make no profit from writing and displaying this.

AN: Warning--fanservice awaits:P

-

When Izayoi left the village-wide celebration of her father's birthday that night, she was empty-handed, with her mind full of thoughts of her past as a little girl and her looming future as a daimyo's wife. Never had she expected, as she paid homage to her mother among a field of higanbana flowers just outside the village, that a white dog, the size of any typical large canine, would stumble upon her. She found the creature critically wounded, weak, and bleeding to death. The dog rejected her offers of assistance at first, his will to defend himself much stronger than his body's capability to do so, but somehow, someway, Izayoi managed to gain enough of the dog's trust to help him.

Still wondering how she managed to calm the dog enough to touch him, Izayoi moved slowly through the village to the mansion and her rooms, her arms loaded and her mind blank of nothing but the present situation. She had no idea how she was going to care for this wounded animal, but she felt determined to at least give it a try. She knew her conscience would never forgive her had she just allowed the dog to die alone out in that meadow.

Like any large dog, this creature felt heavy, and the weight of Izayoi's many layered kimonos only added to the burden. She almost staggered across the sanded square in front of her father's mansion, her arms shaking from the weight of her load. Her robes only grew heavier as she felt the warmth of the dog's blood on her clothing spread along her arms and chest.

Despite her exertions, and the rough time she had lifting the dog off the ground earlier, Izayoi felt surprised that he managed to sleep through it all. Still snoozing, his head dangling off the crook of her arm, Izayoi wondered if this deep sleep was natural, or if it was a symptom of a sure death.

Stillness and quiet claimed the entire village. She could detect no warm glow of lanterns in any of the nearby houses, nor could she detect any movement. No doubt everyone had gone to their homes to sleep off the feast, the dancing, and the plentiful sake of the night.

Despite her apparent isolation, Izayoi still moved quickly down the many corridors of her father's mansion, still worried about being spotted. There was always someone patrolling the village in case of intruders, and Izayoi did not feel like explaining why she was up so late carrying a bleeding dog.

Finally, she stopped in front of the door to her room. Shifting the dog's weight in her arms, she freed her hands to enter, closing the door firmly shut behind her.

She could just barely make out her futon mat, already rolled out for her, from what little light that filtered through the rice paper of the door. Carefully, she set the dog down beside it, then moved to the tiny wood stove to light a lantern.

Instantly, warm, dim light filled the room. Izayoi turned and bit her lip, watching blood pool from under the dog, destroying the tatami mats. She felt grateful that she hadn't thought of resting the dog on her bed, for the mattress would have surely been ruined.

Turning back to the stove, she drove her focus into preparation for helping the dog, first by throwing small logs into the woodstove already full of simmering red embers, then preparing a kettle of water and washcloths.

While waiting for the water to boil, she knelt by the dog, biting her lip in reaction to the creature's labored breaths and slight trembling. She eyed the wounds, the dim light making them look worse than when she had last remembered them. Studying each gash worriedly, and the blood that oozed from every one, she wondered how she was going to save this dog. _I'll probably have a dead animal by morning. I should have paid more attention to my nanny's teachings about medicine…_

Feelings of helplessness tugged at her heart. Izayoi tensed her body, gritted her teeth, determined not to give up on this animal so easily, determined not to succumb to weakness. Standing, she rushed back to the stove, keeping her mind focused on how to clean this dog's wounds instead of the fact that she knew nothing of closing a wound or preventing infection.

She had just gotten a basin ready for hot water when the entire room suddenly brightened. Shadows seemed to jump out from nowhere over the sudden intensity of light. Feeling warmth on her back, Izayoi spun around to find the dog completely engulfed in an orb of light.

Shielding her eyes from the glow's blinding intensity, she watched, squinting from underneath the long, dangling sleeves of her junihito, as the orb of light seemed to twist and contort itself.

Awe-struck, Izayoi stared as the light slowly died away, until it was no longer a silver-furred dog before her eyes, but a naked man. He lay on his side, appearing to look unconscious, with just as many wounds all over his body as the dog had. Long, silvery-white hair, streaked with blood, spilled out from behind him. Sweat beaded his forehead, his face twisted in a look of great pain, his breathing ragged and heavy.

Her mind suddenly numb, Izayoi stared, eyes wide with shock, her hand flying up to cover her gaping mouth. She knew that a dog that changed into a man was not a dog at all. _I…I brought a youkai into the village!_ Fear suddenly gripped her from this realization, as stories of youkai plundering villages and killing everyone in their quake flooded her mind at once. She could hear Takemaru's voice in her head, lecturing her about how dangerous, vile, and evil all youkai were. _What have I done? I've put the entire village in danger over sympathy for…for some creature!_

Feeling panicked now, her mind filled with the heavy drumming of her rapidly beating heart, Izayoi struggled to clear her thoughts, to correct the situation she had caused, to do _something_. Finally remembering how to move her legs, she rushed to a large vanity dresser beside her bed. With Takemaru's lecturing voice in her head still, she frantically opened each drawer, desperate to find something, _anything_, to use as a weapon.

_If you see a youkai of any sort, run,_ she remembered her fiancé saying. She could clearly envision his face, warm brown eyes stern and facial features hardened to seriousness.

_If you can't run away, defend yourself in any way you can. Even a wounded youkai, even a seemingly helpless youkai, will kill you if given the chance._ She took a quick glance over her shoulder at the creature on the other side of the bed, still motionless on the floor. She eyed the long, sharp claws at the tip of each finger, then managed to tear her gaze away to continue rummaging for a weapon.

_Remember, no youkai is ever truly helpless, no youkai is ever truly harmless, and no youkai deserves to live. If we humans don't kill them, they'll most certainly kill us._ Izayoi uttered a string of curses under her breath, growing panicked over the sheer uselessness of her possessions in such a situation as this. Various scrolls, blank and otherwise, ink, makeup, hair accessories, and other such things that a noblewoman would own would not protect her from a bloodthirsty youkai. Izayoi's hands dove through each compartment desperately, being not at all quiet as she flung open drawers, slammed cupboard doors, and pushed through the things inside them. Another string of words that should never come out of the mouth of a dainty princess were spoken as Izayoi regretted, for possibly the thousandth time, of deciding to please her father by finally trading her tomboyish ways for a more womanish, domestic lifestyle. Such a choice was beginning to turn out to be not only the death of her, but of her entire village.

_Therefore, you must do what you can at all costs to defend yourself against ANY youkai you come across._

"Found it!" Izayoi cried out in her relief, momentarily forgetting that she was sharing a room in the dead of night with a naked youkai man as she held up a small dagger that had been forgotten in the back of one of the drawers. Baring confidence as though she were wielding a massive sword instead of an object almost too dull and tiny to be called a blade of any sort, Izayoi marched up beside her imposter. Gripping the short, gold-plated handle of the so-called weapon with both hands, Izayoi dropped to her knees and raised it above her head; the worn tip of the blade pointed at the youkai, ready to strike.

It was at that point that she hesitated. Izayoi knew that if she didn't kill the youkai with one stab, he would most certainly wake up from her attempt. Though he had lost a lot of blood—Izayoi wondered how he even still had blood in his body to seep from his wounds—she could not afford the risk of this youkai having enough energy to kill her if he woke up. _Therefore, I must kill him right away._

Izayoi swallowed, feeling her throat constrict in her anxiety, as she eyed the youkai's body for a place to strike. The obvious choice was his heart, if the blade was even long enough to pierce through the muscle and ribcage guarding it. The youkai was laying on his left side, which made her chances of successfully piercing his heart on first strike much less plausible. Izayoi would have to move him in order to gain enough access to attack his heart. The mere thought that she had carried a youkai in her arms throughout the long walk back to the village from the forest made her stomach churn and her mouth go dry. Touching him at all now, in her fear of being attacked, was not an option. _So, where should I strike?_

If Izayoi were born a boy, she probably would have known how to properly slay a youkai. She probably wouldn't have been so scared—she may even thrill over the kill. If Izayoi were a boy, she mused, she would have killed this creature back at the meadow, hence never endangering her people. But, she was a sentimental female noblewoman, untrained in the art of combat, and a wreck in such a situation. She closed her eyes, picturing herself failing to kill this youkai, a _wounded_ youkai at that. She imagined the dog-man waking up from his fitful sleep in a rage over being stabbed, then lunge at her, teeth bared, claws drawn, hands outstretched, aiming for her throat…

_That's it!_ Izayoi's eyes flew open at once as hope surged through her. She stared at the youkai's jugular, completely open for the taking. _I can tear out his throat! That'll kill him for sure._

Tightening her grip on the dagger so that her knuckles were stark white, Izayoi licked her lips, tensing every muscle in her body in preparation to strike.

Her gaze on his neck wavered over to his face, to the beads of sweat and the expression of agonizing pain. He panted, swallowed, and looked as though he would wake up at any given moment. Certainly, he did not look like someone currently capable of killing anything, let alone her.

Izayoi's sudden doubts brought her memory back to earlier that night, when this man was a wounded dog in the field. She remembered the bold, sure look in that dog's eyes—that familiar look of trust that any dog would give to their loving caretaker. This dog, no this _youkai_, seemed to trust her with his life, his impending fate. With that single gaze, he had given her permission to try to help him.

Izayoi blinked, swallowed, the dagger shaking in her trembling hands. Her eyes grazed over every cut and bruise on his body, and of the blood that pooled around him. _He doesn't look in any condition to harm the village, or me_ she reasoned.

Takemaru's words of how dangerous youkai were echoed through her mind once more. She licked her lips and shifted her weight so that she was better anchored to the floor, struggling to ignore the feelings of doubt and unease that kept tickling her conscience.

_He's bleeding pretty badly, though…_ Takemaru seemed to argue with her in her mind. Izayoi knew that the logical choice would be to kill this youkai. Her duty as a noblewoman, as part of the ruling family over this village, demanded that she eliminate all potential danger to her people. But she could not shake from her mind the dog's trusting gaze of earlier. _He entrusted his life onto me. He expects me to save him. If he really wanted to kill me, he would have done so by now. But he didn't. He didn't…_

Cursing once more, but this time out loud, Izayoi dropped the dagger, the object landing harmlessly on the floor beside her.

Pushing aside as best as she could all restraining fear for this being, Izayoi at once leaned forward, pressing her hands on the youkai's shoulders as she eased him gently onto his back.

Tucking as much hair behind her ears as she could, Izayoi hunched over him, peering at the many wounds on his arms and legs. Without the dog hair, the wounds looked much deeper and more serious than before. Izayoi bit her lip, wondering how she was going to treat such cuts.

Deciding that doing something was better than nothing at all, Izayoi stood up and moved towards the wood stove. She stripped off her heavy and soiled layered robes, leaving her only in her dark red kimono and dark blue hakama, both stained with blood.

With hands shaking and a mind spinning in concentration over how to stop this youkai's bleeding, Izayoi filled a basin with the water boiling in the kettle on the stove. Grabbing a nearby washcloth, she returned with the basin to the youkai's side. Kneeling over him once more, she dipped the cloth in the water, then gently dabbed at one of the slash wounds on his chest, hoping that a simple wiping away of the blood would be enough.

More blood pooled over the area as fast as she would mop it up. Izayoi bit her lip and paused, realizing that she was accomplishing nothing with this. _The blood just won't stop…_ She dipped the washcloth in the water, the liquid instantly turning a light shade of pink from the blood, wrung the excess water, then pressed the cloth firmly on one of the wounds on the youkai's chest.

Izayoi's mind scanned frantically through the many memories of her nanny caring for the sick and wounded in her village, of all the soldiers that would come home from some battle in need of care. She remembered watching the old woman tie clean bandages tightly around the open, gushing wounds of soldiers on many an occasion to help slow the bleeding...

A new wave of energy surging through her body, Izayoi shot to her feet. She rushed over to her closets, flinging them all open. Her available wardrobe was sparse; her nanny had no time to clean all of Izayoi's soiled laundry, so busy with tending to the arrival of Takemaru and his large, assorted band of followers. All she had left was another set of layered kimono, all made of silk, and a few plain, white yukatas to wear to sleep. All of the actual bandages were in her nanny's room; Izayoi could not risk waking the woman up and letting her know of the youkai in her room.

Not even giving herself time to think, Izayoi grabbed all the clean yukatas she had left, rushing back to the youkai's side. With aid of her teeth and the dull dagger, she cut the clothing into long strips, then set to work cleaning and bandaging the more serious wounds around the youkai's arms and legs. She then focused on tying strips of cloth together so that she had long enough "bandages" to wrap around the youkai's torso to cover the wounds on his chest. She worked as fast as she could, pausing only long enough to occasionally wipe sweat off her brow.

It was while eyeing one of the more serious wounds on the youkai's chest, while prepping strips of cloth, that Izayoi noticed that it was not seeping nearly as much blood as earlier. Alarmed and curious at the same time, wondering if this creature had finally bled himself to death, Izayoi leaned over him, wiping as much blood from the wound as she could to see into it.

The cut was deep and wide, and she could easily identify the layer of skin, the severed muscle, and the many cut blood vessels on either side of the wound. Fresh blood began to pool at the bottom of the cut.

Izayoi, however, did not expect such a serious cut to actually perform a remarkable feat. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched tiny threads of muscle on either side of the wound wiggle to the center and join, merging into one continuous link of flesh. The largest cleaved blood vessel, surely an artery, stretched to the center as though magnets were attached to either end, then stuck together and sealed itself.

Izayoi glanced up at the youkai's face; though he still held a tight expression of pain, he was now sweating less and he looked a little more relaxed.

Izayoi leaned back, allowing the relief to flood through her, relaxing her entire body. _What a remarkable healing ability! He's gonna be ok…_

The rest of the night looked much more optimistic than a moment ago. Izayoi engaged in the task of lazily wiping down the youkai's body of excess soil and dried blood on his skin. While cleaning his neck and shoulders, Izayoi finally allowed herself the chance of taking a good look at the creature before her, her mind too focused earlier on his wounds to even really know what she was looking at. Her eyes followed the contours of his body, of all the smooth, corded muscle on such a tall, lithe frame, and marveled over how human this youkai looked. It was only when her eyes continued to travel down his body that she realized that he was also _naked_.

Feeling her face grow hot, Izayoi turned her whole body away, covering her face as she waited for the overbearing feeling of awkward embarrassment to subside. Keeping her eyes glued to the floor, she moved behind his head in preparation for moving the youkai onto her bed…the _naked_ youkai, who currently looked _very_ human, onto her _bed_. Never been with, or even really seen a naked man before, Izayoi found the situation to be very strange and shameful, and not at all arousing. Still, she could not expect this youkai to recover on blood-stained tatami mats, and she had no spare beds in the room.

Always averting her gaze, Izayoi hooked her arms under the youkai's shoulders, then scooted his upper body, surprisingly heavy, onto the futon beside him. She then moved to his feet. Her face beet red now, she grasped his ankles and, not daring to look ahead, pivoted his lower body onto the bed. It was only after she draped her heavy blanket over his body up to his shoulders did she allow herself to look at him again.

Izayoi covered the bloodstain on the floor as best as she could with dampened cloth, then cleaned up all the mess she made around her room. Yawning, the fading adrenaline leaving her whole body drained, Izayoi settled herself in a comfortable sitting position beside the youkai, her back leaning against the wall. She studied him in silence for a while, as he motionlessly and silently slept, her mind returning to her thoughts of how astonishingly human he looked.

Curiosity taking the edge off her fatigue, Izayoi scooted closer, wanting to know how different this dog man really was from humans.

She remembered his long fingernails, so claw-like, and how they easily shredded one of her washcloths when she had tried to clean his fingers. She gently pulled one of his hands out from under the blanket, raising the palm to her face. She rubbed her fingertips on his nails, marveling at how very firm and strong they felt, then traced the edges of each nail to their sharp tips. Izayoi gasped and winced, one of the nails leaving a small, neat cut on her index finger.

Muttering curses under her breath, Izayoi lightly sucked on her wounded finger as she set the youkai's hand down and leaned forward for a closer examination of his face.

She reached out and touched his hair, so long and a glistening silvery-white, and marveled at the softness of it, as though touching strands of silk. She caught a faint aroma from his hair, and was surprised that it smelled nothing like blood, sweat, or even like a dog. He smelled like rain--like damp earth before a rainstorm, or as though he lived in a cloud.

Her fingertips traced the unique, pointed shape of one of his ears, one of the main features that set this creature apart from humans.

Izayoi delicately pushed back his bangs with her fingers, studying his face. He held no features of a dog, and was very pleasing to the eyes to boot. She giggled softly over his bushy eyebrows, so dark compared to his pale hair, and attempted to gently smooth them out with a fingertip. The eyebrows, somehow, did not detract from his attractiveness.

She dragged her finger down the bridge of his nose, then traced his lips, slightly parted. She stared at what little that she could see of his fangs, then averted her gaze to the jagged, bluish slash-mark on either side of his face.

She squinted at the marks, leaning in so that her face was only inches from his, and touched one side of his face. They did not look like tattoos, from the way the color of the markings blended into the color of his skin so fluidly, and they were not scars, evident by the smoothness of the skin as she dragged a finger down the side of his face, along one of the marks.

It was then that the youkai opened his eyes.

This took Izayoi by surprise. She gasped, recoiled, and jerked her hand away as though she had touched fire. Eyes wide, her breath quickened, Izayoi noiselessly panicked, wondering what she should do now that the youkai was awake.

But upon a closer look at him, she realized that though the youkai was looking in her direction, he wasn't looking _at_ her. His eyes were glazed over, his gaze distant, as though he were daydreaming.

Izayoi swallowed, calming down a bit, but still a little on edge as she stared.

They locked eyes, Izayoi suddenly captivated by his gaze. Even in the dim light, she clearly noticed the intense golden-yellow color of his eyes. So intense, they seemed to pierce right through her to her very soul. His gaze gave her the impression of a wise man seasoned with the trials of life, and perhaps he may even be a kind youkai, if such a being existed.

Then as fast as it had started, the youkai's eyes were closed again. He grimaced, gritted his teeth, the expression of pain returned to his face. He rolled his head from side to side, sweat once again beading his face.

Alarmed, Izayoi ran her eyes over him, wondering frantically what to do, and why his condition had suddenly changed. She drew the blanket up to under his chin and placed a cool, damp washcloth on his forehead. Izayoi bit her lip, watching the youkai grimace in pain, hearing his labored breathing, and knowing that she could do nothing more, that she was helpless.

She hated feeling helpless. Nevertheless, all she could do now was remain by his side.

Izayoi took one of his hands in hers, squeezing it firmly in her grip. _I promise_, she thought to herself, _that even if I can't take care of you the way a proper nurse would, that I will at least stay by your side for as long as it takes, and to stay awake, so that at least…at least you won't have to be alone._

And as though he had read her thoughts, the youkai squeezed her hand, causing Izayoi to jump. However, the youkai's eyes were closed, his head turned away, showing no signs of acknowledging her presence.

Izayoi kept her promise, keeping vigil by his side throughout the rest of the very long night.


	3. Insult to Injury

Amaryllis: The Tragic Fairytale

Chapter 3: Insult to Injury

Disclaimer: Based off of the manga _Inuyasha_ by Rumiko Takahashi, and all affiliates. I, myself, have no affiliation with the manga/anime and the like. I make no profit from writing and displaying this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Because I have not encountered such a situation in any other Inupapa/Izayoi fic I've come across, and because I want a way to salute Rumiko Takahashi and her wonderful work, the first "meeting" of our hero and heroine, and the first several days after shall carry a more comedic tone. It is my opinion that true love shouldn't always be brooding and serious. However, if you like the darker tones of _Amaryllis_, I urge you to keep reading—their impending situation will not be something to joke about.

Also, I am in need of a beta-reader for this fic! If you're interested or know someone that would be, please let me know!

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Touga struggled with sleep, his mind swimming in a number of dreams. He dreamt of his son, Sesshoumaru, when he was younger--of the times when the small pup was so curious, bright, and practically his father's shadow--before he gained his overbearing sense of independence.

He dreamt of Rika, Sesshoumaru's mother, during the days of their courtship. Underneath that stoic, cool stance, she was fiery, intense, burning with ambition. He dreamt of this, and her icy-hot, exotic beauty, traits that she still possessed. He dreamt of the things about Rika that still mesmerized and intoxicated him, despite the invisible rift that now separated them, and the deep longing for her that he would always carry but would never be relieved of.

He dreamt of his family, before they were slaughtered so long ago. He dreamt of his mother, so nurturing to her children yet so fierce on the battlefield, like a dog gone wild, fighting beside Touga's strong, noble, iron-willed father. He dreamt of his brothers and sisters, of the special moments they shared as siblings, of their teasing, of all the things that made them similar to each other and different at the same time.

And he dreamt of Ryuukossei, the youkai that had raised him after his family's death when he was still a young pup. Ryuukossei was the youkai that he had once looked up to, as well as the youkai that had actually killed his family, this fact known to Touga when he was an adolescent. Ryuukossei was the youkai that Touga had later spent the rest of his life searching for in hopes of finally avenging his family's death.

But in these dreams, Touga was once again that young, impressionable pup, and Ryuukossei was once again his hero, the youkai he strived to become, his entire family, and the one person he loved more than anyone else in his lifetime.

In between all of this, Touga dreamt of a plain room, built of wood, warmed by the dim glow of candlelight. He could see a face, of a woman, with eyes like deep pools of water and hair like a waterfall of ebony silk, and skin smooth and creamy like the luster of pearls. He could not focus enough to tell if she was human, youkai, or something else, or even if she was just some piece of a random dream thrown in the mix of his jumbled subconscious, but he did note her incredible beauty, and the way she stared at him as though he himself were something of intrigue.

Now Touga dreamt of staring up at a wooden ceiling, but this time it was bathed in the glow of morning sunlight instead of the glow of a lantern. He could hear roosters calling somewhere in the distance. The smell of burning wood, perfume, and cooked meat teased his nostrils.

Touga blinked, and realized at once that he was no longer dreaming, but fully awake in an unfamiliar environment. His hazy memories could not recall when he had stopped sleeping. And that's when he sensed a presence in the room, close by, almost right beside him.

Letting his instincts take over, he shot up to a sitting position, lashing out with an extended arm and outstretched claws blindly, in hopes of eliminating whoever or whatever was foolish enough to get too close to him.

Pain shot through his body, the act of sitting up like a dozen knives criss-crossing against his body all at once. His arm felt like lead; he could barely move it. His vision blurred; the room seemed to spin rapidly around him, and his stomach churned painfully. He groaned, gritting his teeth against the fiery pain that seared through him, shaking his head in an attempt to steady his balance, and swallowing hard to suppress his urge to vomit.

The effects of the dragon youkai poison had not completely worn off, slowing his healing and enhancing the agony of recovery.

Touga managed to glance up at the presence by his feet and at first thought he was staring into the eyes of the beautiful woman from his dreams of last night. She appeared as though she had fallen backwards onto her bottom, her face paled in fear and her eyes like saucers from surprise. Clearly she did not expect him to wake up lashing at her like that. But upon blinking and squinting as his vision cleared and his head slowed its spinning, he realized that it was only the girl from last night, the plain-looking, stupid one that thought he was a dog.

A dog…lashing out…why had he used his claws to attack instead of his teeth…?

Touga's breath caught in his throat, his mind shocked to crystal clarity in realizing his situation. He glanced down at himself, noting the bandages that covered his humanoid arms and the dried blood over the uncovered wounds of his humanoid chest. His hair was unbound, falling over his shoulders in a cascade of silvery-white. He absorbed enough of his immediate surroundings to note that he was in a futon. Hastily, he lifted the edge of the blanket, just enough to know that he wore not a stitch of clothing. He immediately regretted his decision of not dressing first before morphing into his true form.

Touga groaned, overcome by annoyance and dread. His intention was to stay in his true form for the entire duration that he could stand to be with humans. The girl was supposed to nurture his wounds and allow him to gain enough strength to leave, all the while thinking he was some poor, defenseless animal that needed to be saved. He had hoped to leave without anyone knowing the wiser. But somehow during the night his body had reverted to its humanoid state. His cover was blown. No doubt this girl's entire village knew that a youkai was in their mists. With the tender condition that he was in, Touga was in no mood to fight off a few dozen humans, knowing that their kind liked to fight like ants, overwhelming the enemy in great numbers.

"Damn it!"

"Excuse me?" came the almost immediate response from the girl, obviously due to his outburst.

Touga looked up at the her, scowling. He managed to heave a heavy sigh without causing too much pain to his ribcage. "Where are they?" he asked, sounding almost bored.

The girl blinked, stared, clearly confused. "Where are who?"

"The protectors of your village. I'm sure there are at least two dozen men standing outside your door right now, each one eager to be the first to brag about how he had slain a youkai."

The girl's eyes widened in realization. She glanced at the door, then gave out a sly smile almost suitible enough for a kitsune. "I'm the only one that knows you're here."

This time it was Touga's turn to give out the blank stare before blurting, "What, are you stupid?"

The girl blinked, caught off guard by his statement. She gave him an offended look. "What do you mean by _stupid_?" The question carried a sharp, bold tone of someone that wanted to start an argument.

Touga looked at her as though she was an annoying, snot-nosed child. "By taking me to your village, and keeping me a secret, I can easily tear through every building here, slaughtering everyone in sight, without anyone knowing what hit them. Your village's massacre will be entirely your undoing because you are naive enough not to warn your village about me first."

The girl frowned in a displeasing, yet thoughtful way and crossed her arms. Under the presence of a youkai, she seemed not at all timid. Foolish. "I thought you were a dog at first. You were seriously wounded, and you _allowed_ me to take you home and care for you. I did not figure that you had any intentions of killing anyone in my village."

Touga snorted. "Clearly, you have not encountered many youkai in your lifetime, otherwise you would have realized your mistake by now."

"What, so you want for me to call the guards on you? You and I both know that you are in no condition to fend for yourself. Since you let me take you home, you obviously wanted to live, and I am keeping you a secret right now to ensure your survival. I think _you're_ the one that's stupid."

Touga did not take insults well. He glared, releasing a growl from deep in his throat. "You want me to prove to you who's the stupid one, human?" His voice carried a rough edge, laced in a threatening tone.

The girl flipped her hair over her shoulder, rising to her knees. "Then prove it," she challenged. "Attack me." She stretched her arms out from her sides, open palms facing him, and tilted her head back to expose her neck. Her eyes locked on his, meeting his challenge. "I'm unarmed. Kill me now if you're able to."

_She truly is quite a foolish girl_. Tensing his muscles, Touga attempted to spring to his feet, to lunge at her. However, the intentions of his mind and body were very different. Just the simple act of moving his arms and legs left him dizzy and disoriented, pain ripping through him, his head throbbing. All he could manage was to slump forward, gasping for breath.

The girl was upon him at once, resting her hands on his shoulders and easing him back into a sitting position.

Humiliated, frustrated, Touga bared his teeth and growled, glaring death wishes at her. "Don't touch me, human!" he spat, and managed to lift his arms enough to clamp his hands around her shoulders.

The girl froze, a glimmer of fear showing in her eyes, but it quickly dissolved as Touga attempted to tighten his grip.

His gazed pierced hers. He intended on squeezing her shoulders so hard that her collarbone would snap, he wanted to dig his claws into her flesh and hear her cry out her helplessness. But he could not manage to even squeeze her arms without losing breath. His mind spun, his head felt like someone was pounding it with a hammer, and his arms felt as though over a dozen men were sitting on them. Never in his life had he felt so weak.

Too easily, the girl slipped out of his grasp, returning daintily to her spot by the foot of the bed, sitting comfortably on her feet. She smirked arrogantly at him as he struggled to recover. "I _told_ you that you were in no condition to defend yourself. You can't even hurt a harmless girl." Her voice was smug, triumphant, and Touga cursed it under his breath.

"Give me a few days," he growled between breaths, "and I'll kill you for sure." _No one humiliates me and gets away with it, especially not a filthy human!_

The girl diverted her attention elsewhere as though she had not even heard the threat. "I saved some stew for you," she said in a suddenly pleasant tone as though hosting a guest, picking up a steaming bowl of something from the floor beside her. So that was the cooked meat smell that Touga detected. "You need to regain your strength."

Despite the stew's delectable smell, Touga stared at it as though it were infested with maggots. "I do not eat human garbage," he announced. "Get that filth away from me."

"Nana's cooking is not garbage!" the girl snapped, glaring while she stirred the piping hot contents with chopsticks. "This is Nana's best stew, made just this morning with fresh meat, rice, and vegetables. Everyone loves her cooking. You won't taste anything better, so _eat up_!"

Touga returned her unfriendly look, lifting his nose into the air. "You heard what I said, or else you're hard of hearing. I won't eat it."

"Fine, then I'll eat it myself."

With a huff, the girl sighed and settled the bowl on her lap. She grasped a piece of meat with her chopsticks, popping it in her mouth while she silently fumed.

Izayoi just barely managed to catch the youkai's eyes following the morsel of food from the bowl to her mouth. Pretending not to notice, she ate another morsel of food, noting the way the youkai's eyes followed every move of her chopsticks.

It reminded her of her father's dog, the way she relentlessly begged for food.

Izayoi suddenly let out another one of her small, sly smiles, an idea surfacing in her mind. With great exaggeration, she stirred the contents of the soup, then grasped a very large mouthful of food. "This soup smells _so_ good," she commented, putting almost all of her attention onto the food as though it were something of utmost importance. "I've been craving this for quite some time now."

Slowly, with painstaking exaggeration, she brought the morsel of food to her lips, then took it into her mouth as though it would crumble to dust if she weren't careful enough with it.

Izayoi chewed, looking as though the food had somehow given her a small feeling of euphoria. "The meat is especially tender today," she commented, grinning to herself as she took a quick glance in the youkai's direction. His eyes were glued to her mouth, hopeful and still like that of a dog yearning for the next mouthful. _I bet he isn't even aware of what he's doing._ "The rice is of _perfect_ consistency, and the vegetables are especially crisp."

Normally, Touga had no desire to eat human food. He had denied it so many times before. But in this situation, he felt weak, drained of all energy, and his stomach churned in protest of his sudden decision to go on a hunger strike. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not ignore his body's insistence for food today, nor could he ignore the delicious aroma that filled the room. He found himself staring at this girl's eating fanfare, wondering if the food tasted as good as it smelled. And though he knew that the girl was teasing him, pushing him to accept the food, he could not look away, each bite taken only intensifying his hunger.

Oh, how he wished he had an iron willpower like Sesshoumaru's.

"Thinking about it," he piped up, just before she could torture him by taking another exaggerated bite from the bowl, "I have been meaning to do a bit of research on the human way of life for quite some time now. Food, of course, is an important part of that research. Therefore, even though I believe your food to be filth, if I could just _taste_ it to prove how disgusting it truly is, I—"

"Certainly." The girl grinned, scooting herself, and the coveted bowl of soup closer to him. She gathered another bite of food between the chopsticks, moving the morsel to his lips.

Touga stared as though she were trying to feed him dirt. "You have got to be kidding me."

The girl gave him an inquisitive look. "What?"

"I would never allow the likes of you, a _human_, to feed me. I can feed myself."

The girl rolled her eyes, extending the bowl to him. "Let's see you feed yourself then," she snapped, clearly irritated, "even though you can't even get out of bed."

"Gladly." Touga raised his arms to accept the bowl, but discovered, once again, how taxing on his body the dragon poison and losing too much blood was. He cursed under his breath as his trembling fingers could only lightly touch the bowl, too weak to even think about holding it without spilling.

"As I was saying," the girl drawled with a triumphant smirk. Touga wished he could literally rip that expression right off her face.

He opened his mouth to accept the bite-full of food, glaring at the girl the entire time. He chewed, inwardly very pleased and surprised that the food did taste as good as it smelled.

He ate in silence for several minutes, the girl feeding him bite after bite of the stew. She stared thoughtfully at him, as though he were an interesting sculpture of some sort, while he continued to glare.

The girl looked very similar to how he remembered her the night before. She wore many layers of open kimono--the junihito--over a kimono and hakama set. That, the way she wore her hair, and the light bit of makeup that covered her lips and eyelids told him that she was of some sort of noble status. He remembered that she did not wear makeup that night, but having it on now did not seem to improve her "plainness".

Touga noted how she kept shrugging her slumping shoulders and lifting her drooping arms, obviously not used to the weight of the junihito. Apparently, she hadn't been dressing in this fashion for very long.

At least she smelled nice, of a floral-scented oil. The color of her eyes, that of a deep, solemn blue, was mildly interesting. Her hair seemed to be her best feature, the way it flowed and shimmered around her, or at least the best feature that he could tell. Human women led much more modest lives than youkai women, especially in their clothing. The girl looked like her robes could swallow her up; she seemed so small in them. Touga wondered if underneath that many layers of clothing she hid a surprisingly plump body, or a severely disfigured form, or scars, or too many blemishes, or sagging breasts that could drag to the floor, or…or perhaps she hid under those many layers of clothing a young, firm body pleasing to the eye, if there were no strange surprises. After all, Touga had learned over the decades that different species of youkai women made love in different ways, and some had altered or extra "equipment" to properly perform in such ways…

Touga wondered, with mild interest, what it would be like to have sex with this girl. Until now, he had never even thought of copulating with a human female, and wondered if he even should. Would he find the human female body attractive? Would her anatomy be too different from any youkai woman's that he had been with to be able to go through with such an act? Would he end up accidentally killing her, since she was human after all and humans were all so very, very fragile and too, too easy to kill…

"So," the girl said, drawing Touga's mind from the gutter. She sounded strangely meek, shy, averting her eyes from him. So suddenly different from how she acted only moments ago. "I don't know much about youkai at all, or even really seen one up until you. Our men are usually pretty skilled at protecting our village from such creatures. But I have heard many stories and rumors and such. Therefore, I was wondering, since right now you look so very human-like, if you really are a youkai, or…because, like I said, you look like a human, you could perhaps be…a hanyou?"

Touga almost choked on his food. He coughed, sputtered, and did his best to glare as he managed to gulp down a large chunk of meat. "How _dare_ you insult me!"

The girl's eyebrows shot up to her hairline, shocked at this youkai's sudden, extreme reaction. "I don't understand, I—"

"You dare mistaken me, a mighty, powerful, legendary _tai_youkai, with something so lowly, so _despicable_, as…as a _hanyou_?"

The girl blinked, stunned, several thoughts running through her mind at once and unable to decide which one to explore first. After a moment, she found her will to speak. "Taiyoukai, you said?"

"Correct."

The girl studied him, suddenly looking uneasy. "Just who are you, then?"

"Who am I? Who the hell are you?"

Izayoi looked to the ground, too embarrassed by her rudeness to counterattack his. "I am Izayoi, daughter to the ruling daimyo of these parts. And you are…?"

Touga smirked, feeling his ego swell. After putting up with this girl's insults all morning, and the humiliation of being too weak to do anything about it, he could finally enforce some fear into her. He straightened his posture, clearing his throat. "They call me Inu-no-Taisho, youkai ruler of the Western lands, the most powerful youkai daimyo alive, and lord to all dogs in my region."

Never had he identified himself to a stranger without seeing fear in their eyes.

But it was not fear, nor shock, nor even awe that this girl reacted with now. She simply stared, her eyes running up and down his body, great doubt written all over her face.

Then she burst out laughing.

Touga could not help it; his jaw dropped. He could barely speak, or even think of words to say, he was that stunned over her reaction. No one had ever _laughed_ after knowing they were in the presence of one so powerful as he. "Wha…what in hell's so funny?"

Izayoi wiped the tears from her eyes, she was laughing so hard. "I never knew youkai could make jokes!"

"J-_joke_!" Touga spat, choking on the word.

"Yes," Izayoi managed between giggles. "Everyone knows that the Inu-no-Taisho has no human form. He has only ever been seen in the form of a very large dog, bigger than a castle. You were definitely not that big in your dog form! Besides, even if the Inu-no-Taisho _did_ have a human form, it would be that of a very, very, very old man, because of his age. You definitely do _not_ look like an old man! Besides, what would the Inu-no-Taisho be doing so far east anyway? Isn't he the lord of the western-most lands?"

Touga's mind reeled. He had no idea that this was what humans outside of his territories thought of him. He opened his mouth to speak, to explain to her how wrong she was, but decided better of it. With how clueless this woman seemed already, it would be too exhausting to take the great time to tell her the truth. That, and he did not have the energy to morph into his true form, in his true size. _I'll show her the truth later, right before I take her life._

"Seriously, what is your name?"

Only seven people, all of them youkai, knew of the Inu-no-Taisho's given name. He kept this name as a personal part of himself, and a connection to his stormy past. However, he had already decided to kill this girl before returning home. Touga could only take so many insults before being angry enough to kill over it, and this human girl managed to ignite his short fuse very easily. Therefore, he did not see the harm of revealing his given name in this case. She would not live long to spread such knowledge to anyone else. "It's Touga."

Izayoi smiled, soft and warm, happy to finally get a real name off the inu youkai with an apparent sense of humor. "Touga…"

The door to Izayoi's room suddenly flew open.

Both she and Touga jumped, looking in that direction in surprise as a very large bundle of clothes pushed into the room.

Suddenly looking very uneasy, Izayoi shot to her feet, standing directly in front of Touga while fluffing up her robes as much as possible to achieve maximum bulk. "Nana! Um, I didn't expect you here for another hour or so!"

The bundle of clothing shifted to the side, revealing a rather frail-looking old woman in a simple cotton yukata carrying the gigantic load. Apparently, her appearance deceived her strength as she moved along the front of Izayoi's room with ease, stopping in front of her closets. She didn't so much as look in the girl's direction.

"Well, I was behind on my laundry," she explained in an energetic, hurried voice more fit for a girl Izayoi's age. "I was so busy making preparations for Takemaru-san's arrival this past week that I scarcely had the time for anything else. But I finally got around to doing your laundry, Iza-chan. Good morning, by the way. Anyway, you wouldn't _believe_ how messy Takemaru-san's company is. They left the main hall an absolute disaster zone. I spent hours cleaning the floor, and somehow they got food on the ceiling. It was as though several children were eating in that room, not several grown men. And the amount of sake they drank! You can serve all of Kyoto with how much they drank! I couldn't believe it, I…"

Izayoi fidgeted in place, looking wildly about the room as the old woman dropped her heavy load and began sorting and putting away Izayoi's clothes, never stopping her conversation to so much as take a breath.

Touga had to crane his neck around Izayoi's bulky form to see what the old woman was doing. "Does she always talk on and on and on like that?"

"Yes," Izayoi hissed in a sharp whisper. She turned, kneeling by Touga's side. "We have to find a place to hide you before Nana discovers you are here!"

Touga balked, looking at Izayoi as though she had gone insane. "Hide me?" he scoffed, also in a whisper. "You can't just _hide_ a youkai! Especially not a _tai_--"

"—Shut up and move," Izayoi broke off, still searching around the room with her eyes as she took hold of Touga's arm.

Touga shrugged it off, glaring and growling at her softly. "I _can't_ move, remember?" he snapped, straining to keep his voice hushed. "I can't even so much as scratch my own ass without passing out! And you expect me to play your stupid little game of—"

"—Hurry up before Nana turns around and sees you!" Izayoi tugged on Touga's arm, while he tried to cringe away as though her fingers were burning hot. She attempted to stand up while she and Touga had their tug-of-war match, the old servant obliviously chattering non-stop about the previous night's housekeeping story.

Izayoi shot Touga a dangerous look. "Stop struggling and help me!" she hissed.

Touga's matching glare was equally fierce. "Let go of me and fuck off!"

"Iza-chan!"

The harshness of the old servant woman's words caused both the girl and the youkai to freeze.

Izayoi whipped her head over her shoulder to look at the old servant, her hair effectively slapping against Touga's face, causing him to flinch and cough softly.

The old woman still had not turned to face Izayoi. Instead, she stood in place, holding up one of Izayoi's under-kimonos for inspection before putting it away.

Izayoi swallowed hard, her nerves on end, wondering how to explain the youkai in her bedroom. "Nana, I –"

"One of the guards informed me this morning that he saw you take in a wounded dog from the woods last night. Izayoi, you know that both your father and Takemaru-san forbid you to wander around the wilderness. It's for your own protection, you know. They…"

Sobered from the scare, Izayoi slipped away from Touga with sudden ease, looking quite anxious as her eyes scanned the room yet again.

"…I mean, who knows what evil thing could be waiting for you out in those woods," the old woman continued. While Touga hissed out his hatred for humans and Izayoi looked for his hiding place, the old woman neatly folded and put away the last of Izayoi's clean laundry. "You could be attacked by a bandit, or some wild animal, or," she finally turned to greet her princess face-to-face, " or—a _youkai!_"

The old woman nearly collapsed to her knees upon sight of the person in her lady's bed. She threw a trembling hand over her mouth, gawking in utter fear at Touga as he sat up, quite gingerly. "There's a _youkai_ in your bed!" Unlike Izayoi, this woman knew a youkai when she saw one, and showed the proper reaction to him.

She managed to tear her eyes from him long enough to give Izayoi a fear-stricken look. "Iza-chan, run, _now_!" she instructed before she, herself, bolted in a swiftness unexpected of a woman her age, to the exit. "Help, help!" she screamed as she shot for the door. "There's a youkai in—"

Izayoi, despite the restrictions of her clothing, managed to catch up to the old woman before she could slide open the door, slapping a hand over her mouth.

"Ssshh, they'll hear you!" Izayoi hissed.

The old woman tore Izayoi's hand away from her mouth in angered protest. "That's the whole point!" she snapped. "How did a youkai—"

Izayoi re-clamped her hand over the old woman's mouth, pressing more firmly this time. "Listen to me!" she urged, staring straight into the old woman's eyes. "This youkai is harmless."

"I am _not_ harmless!"

"He was the dog that the guard was talking about. I didn't know he was actually a youkai dog until after he changed into a man. All I wanted to do was help him. He was bleeding to death out in the woods—I couldn't just walk away and let him _die_ like that!"

The old woman's eyes narrowed and hardened, as if to say, "I would!"

"Look, if he really wanted to kill me, or the rest of this village, he wouldn't have _allowed_ me to save him!" Izayoi swallowed, her face grim, desperation in her eyes. She let go of her servant, but the old woman held her position, stunned by the sincerity in Izayoi's gaze. "The way he looked at me…" she continued, softer now, her eyes glazing over as she remembered each detail of the night before. "I've never seen so much trust in anyone's eyes…not since Mother died…I don't think anyone that intends on killing me would have shown that much faith in me. I _had_ to show him that his instincts were not a mistake, youkai or not. When has my judgment, my perception of others ever let you down before, Nana? Would I honestly do something like this if I knew it would endanger the village? You know how much I love our home…"

It was all Touga could do from snorting in disgust. _The young ones are always the most naive of them all,_ he scoffed to himself. _They have yet to realize how unforgiving life is, that it's all an intricate game of tricks and lies, designed so that only the strongest, most cunning, and wisest stand a chance against its traps. That look of desperation that I gave her when I was a dog…it was all a ploy, a con to get her to mend my wounds in a safe place, and that is all. For her to think I could trust a human, part of a species that does not trust those of its own kind…_

The old woman sighed, hating to be burdened by her young lady's pleas. The two engaged in a staring contest of sorts for a few long, silent moments, Izayoi holding her anxious, firm gaze, and the old woman searching for a solution in that gaze.

Touga could not help but admit to himself, as he watched the silent battle of ethics unfold before him, that this girl was putting up quite a fight to protect the one that would very soon end her life. _Why on earth would she, a human, go through such lengths to keep me, a youkai, out of harm's way? I don't think she realizes her place in this world, that it is under a youkai's mercy._

Finally, the old woman's resolve snapped. She broke the silence with a drawn-out, tired sigh reflective of her age, looking away in defeat. "Fine," she muttered grumpily, "I won't tell anyone about that _thing_, but when he heals and kills us all, and when we find ourselves in the afterlife, don't say I didn't tell you so."

Izayoi didn't notice, whether through excitement or on purpose, the bitterness of the old woman's words as she threw her arms around her, hugging her tight as she squealed in delight. "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou_thankyou_!" she cried, gushing over her own happiness and triumph.

The old woman sighed once more, refrained from rolling her eyes, and gathered her things to leave. "Both your father and I spoil you too much. I almost wish that you face some sort of uncertainty in your life, just so that you can realize that not everything can go your way."

But Izayoi did not hear the old woman's words. She was heading out the exit herself, chirping happily away about finally meeting a real-life youkai, and for getting the chance to get to know one when no one else in the village had the nerve to even mention such creatures.

Touga sighed as he watched both human women leave, then flopped back on his back as gingerly as he could, staring blankly up at the ceiling. _How did a youkai of such high caliber as myself end up in this pathetic situation?_

He could feel the wounds all over his body tingle, as though thousand of tiny hands were kneading back together the parted flesh. He knew that soon he would be rid of himself these pesky humans, especially that annoying girl, and would return to his usual monotonous lifestyle, a lifestyle that he was starting to miss for the first time in several decades. "Looks like it's gonna be a long day, Myouga," he muttered, wishing to see the skies of his territories, not this drab, wooden ceiling.

He could feel something weave through his hair, brushing up lightly against the back of his ear. "I agree," came the tiny voice of his servant, Myouga the flea youkai. "But at least we're in the company of humans. I've always found them highly fascinating. Especially that girl, she—"

Touga rolled over on his side, making a point to apply as much pressure as he could to his ear. "Of course a low-class youkai as yourself would say something like that," he muttered, unable to possibly sound more bored than he truly felt. "To a taiyoukai, they're just pests that always get in the way, occasional target practice, and something to fill the landscape. Nothing more."

He could hear the flea youkai reply from the now-tight confines of the back of his ear, but his voice was too muffled for any of his speech to be audible.

Touga sighed again. _This will definitely be a long day indeed._


End file.
